USA - One of the summer’s more successful US tours has been Carlos Santana’s Supernatural Now outing with opening band The Doobie Brothers, two acts with roots that stretch back decades that can still pack a house. Equally experienced is LD Michael Ledesma, who has designed the lighting for the tour and is out on the road operating the show. The Supernatural Now tour kicked off in June and celebrates two important anniversaries in the band’s history: the 20th anniversary of their blockbuster Supernatural album and the 50th anniversary of Santana’s legendary performance at the 1969 Woodstock music festival. Naturally, iconic tunes associated with both occasions fill the show with select songs from the artist’s 2019 Africa Speaks album also on the set-list. Ledesma has worked with Santana for years and uses Elation Protron
Italy - The 2019 edition of the Italian travelling music festival Battiti Live (Live Beats) recently visited Italy’s Puglia region, with five days of music from 70 international acts. Having grown from the initial 1995 Battiti dalla Caverna radio programme, the event is now streamed live on national TV throughout Italy. With the growth and popularity of this event has ever-increasing, so in turn has the expectation of the production. "The music, the public and the cities involved are the heart of Battiti Live,” comments Radionorba’s artistic director Alan Palmieri. Termoli-based full-service production company Rooster ensured the smooth running of the festival and employed various Prolights fixtures to achieve this. Twelve Halupix fixtures were used, featuring an optical design that combines a 2800 Kelvin warm-white LED source with special 8°
Belgium - The small municipality of Neerpelt on the Belgian-Dutch border hosted the 68th edition of the annual European Music Festival for Young People. Attracting performers and music lovers from all over the world, the event showcased 100 children and youth ensembles with over 4,000 international performers representing every genre from symphonic and brass, to jazz and big bands, to chamber and folk. Licht & Geluidstechniek Renckens (LGR), supported this array of performances with a versatile and colourful lighting design that reflected the many moods of the music without distracting from it. Aiding LGR in this endeavour were 36 Chauvet Professional ÉPIX Strip IP fixtures. Drawing on the compact design of the linear LED strips, the LGR team was able to fit this lighting within the smaller footprint of the stage. When called upon to accent the music, the fixture
Germany - Every year the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra performs two free open-air concerts in the German city’s main park, the Rosental. The popular Klassik airleben concerts this year attracted more than 60,000. The shows play an important part in Leipzig culture, bringing orchestral music to many who are presumed to rarely attend concerts in the Gewandhaus concert hall. Conducted by musical director Andris Nelsons, this year’s shows featured soloists Kristin Opolais (soprano) and Thomas Hampson (baritone) in a programme of works by Italian composers Rossini, Verdi and Puccini. The show’s production company is Leipzig-based Frontsound Veranstaltungstechnik GmbH, headed by Gunnar Gosch and Christian Arnold. They chose Yamaha QL5 and CL5 digital consoles to mix the show, with two Rio3224-D2 and two Rio1608-D I/O racks, on a redundant Dante network. "A
USA - As the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the moon landing in 1969, a new play endeavours to recreate the thrill of this event with an immersive theatrical experience. Apollo 11 tells the story of the 400,000 men and women who worked to accomplish this extraordinary mission. Told through the eyes of a retired NASA aerospace engineer as he recounts the story to his teenaged granddaughter, Apollo 11 is staged in a, purpose-built venue that plays host to 20 actors, 40,000sq.ft of 360-degree video projection, a life-sized rocket and a powerful KV2 Audio sound system designed by Broadway and West End theatre sound designer, Bobby Aitken, and supplied by Stage Sound Services in Cardiff. The first run has just finished in Pasadena, CA, with the next shows scheduled in Houston, TX in December. “This was a very interesting production to work on as
Australia - Occupying almost an entire city block, Hobart’s new cultural precinct represents a significant partnership between private developers and DarkLab, a subsidiary of the Museum of Old and New Art. The first stage of the development, In The Hanging Garden, opened as part of the annual winter festival Dark Mofo. In its initial phase, In The Hanging Garden consists of an extensive urban beer garden and outdoor dining area and at the centre of the site, and providing some protection from the elements, is a dramatically lit 18m-tall skeleton steel Cathedral shelter, around which are split-level spaces filled with rotating food and beverage offerings in converted shipping containers. During Dark Mofo, the cathedral hosted Night Mass with a variety of acts bravely playing through the cold winter nights. Hobart-based Alive Technologies supplied audio a
Czech Republic - Let It Roll 2019 attracted some of the most popular drum 'n' bass sounds and artists as 25,000 fans rocked up to enjoy three days and seven stages of DNB mayhem in the atmospheric environment of Milovice Airfield. The former Soviet-era airbase north of Prague in the Czech Republic is tucked away in wooded countryside surrounded by a myriad of winding concealed roads. The festival has been on the current airfield site for the last five years, growing in popularity and profile and this year Robe moving lights again played a prominent role. Directing all the Mothership (Main Stage) technical production was Pepa Ženíšek from SMART Production and his team. Flying high on the Mothership this year were Andy C, Sub Focus X Wilkinson, Chase & Status, Delta Heavy, Pendulum and many more. The Main Stage production lighting design was imagined
USA - The Minneapolis Convention Centre has completed another phase in its continuing technology upgrade adding Ayrton Bora-S wash luminaires to the main auditorium. “We replaced our old wash units with a greater number of Bora-S and kicked up the rig a couple of notches,” says the Centre’s technology coordinator, John Eberlein. “We’ve gained greater capabilities with Bora, which can act as a spot, gobo and shutter unit. This takes us to another level.” The feature-packed Bora-S is particularly suitable for scenic applications requiring a great deal of light output, such as concerts and other live entertainment. It is equipped with a new LED module calibrated at 8000K delivering powerful metallic white light with a record-breaking output of 42,000 lumens. ACT Lighting, Inc., Ayrton’s exclusive distributor for North America, had demo’d an assortme
Canada - When the Casino Regina Show Lounge wanted to replace some of its heavily-used followspots, Christie Lites Sales, a Saskatchewan dealer for Robert Juliat lighting fixtures, suggested a pair of Oz 600W LED followspots for the entertainment venue. “We wanted a direct replacement for the Robert Juliat Korrigan followspots we had previously, so Oz was the best option,” says Bruce Dumba, lighting director at the Casino Regina Show Lounge. Casino Regina is owned and operated by SaskGaming, and is located in Regina’s landmark Union Station building. The 800-seat Show Lounge hosts all types of entertainment: singers, bands, comedians, artist tributes, banquets, and is looked after by Ashley Seidler, manager of entertainment at Casino Regina. “Most venues are looking for LED followspots now, and Oz is essentially the LED version of the Korrigan units the Show L
UK/USA - Celebrating World Pride in New York on the 50-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, Autograph’s special events department was charged with providing the inflight sound system on Virgin Atlantic’s celebratory Pride Flight (VS69) from London to New York. Neutrik’s Xirium Pro made it all possible. Revellers, celebrities, DJs, drag queens and assorted entertainers aboard an Airbus A330 at 35,000ft was a special event which presented some very special challenges - to be met by head of special events Andrew Hedges, who headed up the project design, and David Prosser and Adam ‘Fabulous’ Taylor who engineered the event in the air. “Production company One Green Bean approached Autograph to facilitate DJs and other entertainment onboard the flight,” says Hedges. “The brief was for ‘a big party atmosphere’. At the same time Virgin Atlantic’s engi
USA - One of the top selling country music acts for well over a decade, country trio Rascal Flatts is what lighting designer Travis Shirley calls a legacy act. For their Summer Playlist tour, pods of Elation Smarty Hybrid moving heads provide striking yet elegant lighting impact. When Shirley began discussions with band management, it became clear that the band was ready to bring themselves up to date as far as the look of their show. “They wanted something fresh, something current and that’s the direction we started heading in,” Shirley shared. “I took it as a clean slate. Naturally, with fresh and clean what comes to mind is simplicity, clean lines and modern concepts. I wanted something simple but definitive.” Shirley’s design is based around three lighting pods located forward of three vertical backdrop LED screens. “Three members of the band, three
Jordan - Television production facility Jordan Media City (JMC) has upgraded its Amman studios with high performance LED lighting systems from Strand. Specified, supplied and installed by Dubai-based Broadcast & Studio Solutions (BSS), the new system has reduced the lighting energy costs for JMC’s busy studios by 85%. Having recently updated JMC’s two 600sq.m studios to High Definition technology, BSS was asked to specify a complete new lighting system, to replace JMC’s tungsten-source lamps with class-leading, energy efficient LED fixtures. “Low-power LED lighting fixtures were an important factor for the client, as electricity prices have increased rapidly in the last few years,” says BSS project manager Laith Fraihat. But energy costs were not JMC’s only concern. The lighting had to offer high-TLCI colour rendering to ensure consistent high standards
USA - Be More Chill is a musical with original score by Joe Iconis, based on the 2004 novel by Ned Vizzini. After a 2015 regional theatre production, the musical premiered Off-Broadway in 2018 and is now nearing the end of a successful run on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre. Lighting has been in the capable hands of Tyler Micoleau since the original production. At the Lyceum he has used GLP fixtures extensively, with the impression S350 and impression E350 making their Broadway debut, in combination with the JDC1, X4 Bar 20 and the staple impression X4. The Tony Award-winning designer notes that space considerations are a critical factor in most of the older Broadway theatres, the Lyceum being the oldest continually operating theatre on Broadway, having opened in 1903. “Due to its compact size, overhead positions were very tight to the scenic portals and use of
UK - This year, many thousands of fans descended on Middlesbrough to enjoy the annual BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend music festival. For three days, over 50 acts, both new and established, were showcased on three stages. This type of event requires the most versatile and fool-proof lighting network. To meet this challenge, Neg Earth Lights of London specified ProPlex Data Distribution - Devices and Cables. “The ProPlex devices are very stable,” says Sam Ridgway of Neg Earth. “We used them at FOH and in stage data racks for a complete festival system. In addition to the ProPlex Ethernet, DMX and fibre cabling used throughout, the system included five GBS 10-port and EZ-LAN Gigabit switches; four IQ Nodes; and 10 Opto-Splitters.” “This was a ProPlex networking rig through and through,” explains LD and network tech, Nige Holbrough. “In every case throughout the wee
UK - Manchester International Festival (MIF) is staged every two years at venues across the city and presents work from across the spectrum of performing arts, visual arts and popular culture. A major commission at this year’s festival had an urgent technical requirement, which Triple E were only supported Jack Thompson, MIF’s technical director, reports: “We had an urgent requirement for a replacement system for some rollers for the world premiere of Invisible Cities, which we produced with 59 Productions and Rambert and staged in the Mayfield, an abandoned railway station. We needed a speedy response from a reliable supplier. Triple E fell into the frame pretty quickly with their UniTrack system.” Production manager at MIF19, Niall Black adds: “Within 24 hours of us making the call, the installation had been completed. UniTrack is so simple
Singapore - Singapore's 54th National Day celebrations had an added significance this year, as the country also commemorated its bicentennial milestone. It was 200 years ago that Sir Stamford Raffles landed in Singapore. The Singapore Bicentennial National Day Parade was held on 9 August at the Padang, which in itself is an iconic landmark. The Padang, an open field site, was chosen as an alternative to public buildings by Stamford Raffles in 1822. It became a major recreational area when two clubs, the Singapore Cricket Club and the Singapore Recreation Club, were established at both ends of the field. The Padang also witnessed the first post-independence National Day Parade held in 1966, and prior to that, the declarations of self-government in 1959 and the union with Malaysia in 1963. Our Singapore was the theme of Singapore's 54th birthday celebration
Spain - The Shop Ibiza recently deployed a complete Martin by Harman lighting and video system at the island’s Dalt Vila historical site for the International Music Summit’s grand finale show, which featured lighting design by Nick Jevons. The International Music Summit (IMS) is an annual three-day EDM conference held on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. Founded in 2008, the event features industry exhibitions and talks, as well as a spectacular grand finale show featuring performances by world-renowned EDM musicians and DJs. The grand finale is traditionally held in Ibiza’s historical Dalt Vila, a 2,500-year-old hilltop fortress that rises above the city. The Shop Ibiza has provided production support for IMS since the event’s first year, building increasingly ambitious stage designs each year. This year, The Shop collaborated with lighting designer Nic
UK - Cadac’s CDC six mixing console was used FOH this year at the Glade Stage, partnering Funktion-One’s Vero system making its Glastonbury debut. Sound rental company and long term Funktion-One partner Audio Plus deployed a Cadac console for the second year running, at the behest of Funktion-One co-founder Tony Andrews. “It was at the personal request of Tony Andrews that there should be a Cadac CDC console front of house,” explains Audio Plus tech, Dan Hull, who is part of the company’s onsite team. “He especially wanted it paired with the Vero, because of his love of its pre-amps and its sound quality, and his familiarity with the console and what he knows he can achieve with the Vero, mixing on the Cadac.” The CDC six was the principal FOH console with a DiGiCo SD10 on standby for engineers using show files, with the latest DSP-enabled XTA MX36 consol
Spain - Holidaymakers staying at SMY Costa del Sol will now be able to enjoy music throughout the hotel's public areas thanks to the installation of a new sound system that has Equipson's Work Pro products at its heart. Located opposite Los Alamos beach in Torremolinos, SMY Costa del Sol wanted a superior system that reflected the quality ethos of its accommodation and facilities. The system also needed to be powerful enough to cover a large area including the lobby, restaurant, restrooms and outdoor terrace. Malaga-based installation company Servicios Integrales M3 was chosen for the project on the basis of its extensive AV knowledge and its reputation for delivering exceptional results. The company specified a large selection of Work Pro speakers, amplifiers, control and multiplayer units because it had previous experience of Equipson's Work Pro range and had always
UK - Over 10,000 people attended the inaugural Abingdon Summer Fireworks Festival which saw four showcase firework displays choreographed to music, culminating with a spectacular performance from the evenings’ hosts, double British Firework champions, Illusion Fireworks. Quality audio plays a key role in the success of the event, so Illusion turned to AV productions specialists, Surrey-based Sound Solutions who provided a significant Halo-C line array system from EM Acoustics. Sound Solutions’ James Richardson explained that Illusion came to them having been impressed by the clarity of the audio on other fireworks and pyrotechnics shows that both companies had supplied. “They know that we do a good job, and they wanted the same audio quality for Abingdon - for shows like this, what you hear is almost as important as what you see, so it had to be absolutely top qu
China - Nick Ho and his team put on light shows for some of the brightest minds in tech, surrounded by cutting-edge contrivances like self-driving cars, 5G mirrors and 8K 360° virtual reality experiences at MWC19 Shanghai. Ho navigated his way through time constraint issues to interface on short notice with some advanced laser software. Helping him accomplish this was the ChamSys MagicQ MQ60 console. “For the past few years of the MWC event, I have programmed the conference’s opening stinger (walk-up music for the speaker introduction) with lights,” explains Ho. “This year, my client decided to build this show around laser fixtures. We had to use Pangolin Beyond software. Now, my MQ60 receives Timecode via SMPTE LTC, but our Pangolin was not able to receive LTC due to the short notice we were given, which left us no time to prepare the LTC convert for Pangolin.” <
Chile - Mexican singer Ana Gabriel hit the road on her Estamos A Tiempo (We Are On Time) world tour last year at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, a campaign that continues internationally throughout 2019, with another spectacular lighting and visual design by Felipe Serey, one of Chile’s leading LDs. Felipe has worked with the artist for six years, and the lighting specification for the current tour has over 150 Robe moving lights - 60 MegaPointes, 40 Spiiders, 48 Spikies, two BMFL Spots and three BMFL WashBeams - on the lighting plot. Recently, Ana Gabriel played a show at the Movistar Arena in Santiago de Chile where the full Robe rig was supplied by a local rental company and Felipe was proud to be able to deliver the show in his hometown! The design was based around creating a balance of technology to support and reinforce Ana Gabriel’s char
USA - More than 50,000 people from 60 countries joined together for the Adventist Youth Event at International Camporee (CYE) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Bandit Lites supplied the lighting for the six-day event which takes place every five years and featured live worship, productions and fellowship. Working with SBHH Events team of Rachel Quan, Andy Gerber, John Monroe and Brent Walla along with CYE producer Betty Whitehead and director Heidi Litell, lighting designer Mark Carver started developing the lighting direction and staging scenic elements of the show nearly two years ago. “Bandit was great partner for this event,” says Carver. “Over a year and a half of planning went into this, and from the beginning, Mike Golden helped with budgeting and timelines. Project manager Don Lockridge and Dizzy Gosnell helped prepare and provide a plan of execution, all the whil
USA - As the co-founder of Diablo Digital, which provides turnkey live recording systems and services for concert, touring, festival, installation and broadcast applications, Brad Madix has accumulated an impressive resume. He has worked alongside artists such as U2, Shania Twain, Shakira, Van Halen, Rush, Alanis Morissette, Jessica Simpson, Linkin Park, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and many more. In his current role as live FOH engineer for Florence + the Machine, Madix relies on a range of DPA Microphones to help deliver pristine percussion to audiences. For instance, he depends on the company’s 4099 Instrument Microphone for the drum kit and the brand’s 2011C Compact Twin Diaphragm Cardioid Mic for overheads, which pick up the sound from the band’s various percussion instruments including cowbells, cymbals and a wood block. He also positions a pair of 2011C’s above t
